(Disclaimer I do not own Fruits Basket, you knew that already right? Oh dear, poor Rika. Looks like Kyo has gone with Tohru. Please review!)

Chapter Ten: A Dangerous Mind

She knew that tomorrow at college would be gruelling, considering she would most likely see Kyo. Rika remembered when he walked her home after he confessed to Tohru, the whole way was exceedingly awkward and she did not know what to talk about. The only thing he spoke of was Tohru and that was the only subject to keep escaping his lips. She hated it but she would never show it, she was better than that.

"I am surprised yanno" Kyo spoke as both he and Rika walked onwards to their destination. This was not the best of subjects to converse on but Rika knew that he would talk about Tohru, it was only natural. She just needed to do her best to put up with it.

"Well I am not, after all you're a nice guy Kyo" Rika answered. It was so hard to keep up a decent conversation with him when all she longed for was the hold him the way Tohru would. It was unfair. His amber eyes gazed into hers which made her feel uneasy. Maybe he was completely oblivious to the fact she liked him. It was likely. He smiled;

"Thanks Rika, you're nice too. You should get yourself a nice boy yanno-" She mentally kicked herself. The only one she wanted was him but she knew she could not say that. It would make matters worse. Instead she bit inside her mouth and forced a smile. As if that didn't hurt?

"Thanks Kyo-" she muttered, feeling as if he had crushed her heart into smithereens. The walk continued and Rika felt as if the world was crashing down around her. It was all happening too fast.

She was back at home; she was safe and away from the trauma of having to see his face for a while, until morning. At least she would catch the bus in solitude and then it would give her time to get her act into gear, to show that she was okay. She was so good at pretend. Her mother noticed her odd behaviour also. Kyo had dropped Rika off at the bottom of her road as she insisted that it was too soon for him to meet her mother. He merely nodded and left and Rika never looked back. If she did her legs would most likely betray her and run after him. That was not going to happen.

"Rika sweetie would you like some dinner?" her mother sounded from the kitchen. Rika rested her head on her arms as she sat at the table in the living room. All she wanted was to be left alone.

"Nah, not hungry-" she replied. Obviously she was lying but she did not need the hassle. All she wanted was a relaxing bath and a good night's sleep to forget about it all. She wondered if she would be able to sleep at all after everything. It did not seem possible but she had to, after all she needed to be awake at 6am to be in time for college. What a drag. Rika's mother poked her head from behind the living room door, her face scarred with worry as she asked;

"You feeling under the weather darling?" Rika weakly nodded;

"Yeah, guess I am. I'm going to have a bath soon and go to bed"

"Okay-" her mother said, smiling. "-just let me know if you get hungry"

She left and Rika sighed, being here was starting to grate on her nerves, actually everything was. The slightest thing would anger her or frustrate her and she knew the reason why. It was his doing, it was his entire fault. She slowly stood up; a bath seemed like an excellent idea. She needed to relax and unwind and forget about it all. Slowly she walked towards the door and out of the room.

Trudging up the stairs she felt guilty about shutting her mother out of her life like that, she was after all only trying to be supportive but it was not enough. Rika needed more than that, she needed some-one she could trust, some-one to talk to, and some-one to give her a good time. It clicked, she knew just the person who would be able to help her with forgetting Kyo, and even if it was the last person on Earth she would ask. How would she contact him? As she stepped into the bathroom as placed the plug in the bath and started to run the water. This would give her an adequate amount of time to think of how to contact him. He would make sure she would forget about all this, even if he was the one she liked the least. She needed to do something and fast and this seemed like the best and only option. To contact Kakeru~.

Back at the Sohma residence Yuki was somewhat annoyed. He noticed Rika's odd behaviour as she left, she never even uttered a goodbye to any of them and he immediately knew that she was upset and refused to allow anyone to know. It infuriated him. Sadly Kyo was out, he was out with Tohru to discuss future plans so there was no-one to vent his anger out on. He was never the sort to get riled up so easily but for some reason Rika was dear to him, she was vulnerable and needed a friend to rely on. She had a tough life and this was the last thing she needed on top of all the bullying and torture she suffered. He wondered if talking to Shigure would ease things and so he walked into his office where he usually inhabited. Shigure noticed the intrusion and started;

"Oh hello Yuki, can I help you?"

"In fact, yes you can" he said, settling his figure into one of the spare chairs near the desk. Shigure leant forward on his desk, ready to have a good talk with Yuki. He could tell something was wrong. Spinning a pen between his fingers he asked;

"Is this about Rika?"

"Yes-" he answered honestly. There was no reason to lie about it, it was true. He was concerned about her and wanted to know if she was okay. Shigure sighed;

"What about her?"

"Well, I can't help but feel worried. I think she is upset about something because when she left she did not say goodbye to any of us which is so unlike her. I know something is wrong with her-" Yuki's dark eyes looked down, he had a knack for knowing if some-one was not acting their usual self. He wondered if orange top was the reason for her unhappiness. Shigure continued to spin his pen;

"Well, if you ask me I think that something happened between her and Kyo, after all they have spent a lot of time together. Did she seem off with Kyo too?"

"Yes-" Yuki answered. He wished that he could phone her to see if she was okay and maybe she would tell him what happened to make her feel so down and dismal.

"Well, that is obviously the reason then-" Shigure retorted, feeling important for once as Yuki never usually asked him for advice.

"How can I help Ms. Saito?" Yuki asked, almost desperate for advice. He needed to know, he was determined to cheer her up and not to let that stupid cat upset her. He had gone too far this time.

"Well-" Shigure mused. "-You could always ring her house phone and see if she is in and wants to talk? It's worth a try?"

Yuki placed a hand to his chin in thought, he wondered if she would appreciate his interference in her affairs or if she would shut him out of her life completely.

"I could try-" he concluded finally, trying to smile. Shigure nodded, happy that he had actually helped for once.

"Well, feel free to use the phone Yuki and tell me how things are" Yuki nodded and rose to his feet. He decided it would be beneficial to phone now; to get it out of the way otherwise this would only play on his mind. Hastily he retreated to the hallway and started his journey to the phone, to ring Rika and to enquire if everything was fine.

As she watched the water fill the bath Rika felt a slight sadness well up inside. The idea of trying to forget Kyo was torturing her, she did not want to do it, she wanted to always remember the memories but she did not think it was possible to be happy whilst remembering them. It had to be done. Her heart ached with the idea of being in some-one else's arms apart from Kyo's, she did not want anyone else but him. She realised that now, but he did not want her. He always wanted Tohru and she could not change that. She heard her mother's voice;

"Rika, some-one's on the phone for you!" Her dark eyes widened, could it be Kyo? Instantly she turned off the tap and rushed down the stairs. If it was Kyo then maybe she could explain about everything, everything she felt, thought and wanted and then perhaps he would understand. At least then there would be a release for her. As her eyes depicted the image of her mother holding out the phone she could not help but smile. Her mother handed Rika the phone and left to go back to the kitchen. Slowly placing it to her ear she mumbled;

"Hello?"

"Ms. Saito is that you?" Rika recognised the voice, it was Yuki. It wasn't so bad to hear Yuki's voice down the phone, at least he rang up.

"Yes, it is me-" she answered, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. She wondered why he had chosen to contact her. Maybe it was to ask why she did not even say goodbye when she left.

"Are you okay I got the impression you wasn't when you left the house-" He asked down the phone and Rika swallowed hard. Yuki had no idea to what problems she had, he was of course oblivious. She did not have the heart to confess her real emotions and feelings. She needed to make out she was okay to stop him from worrying about her.

"I am fine, just tired" She lied. She hated lying to people but she was too scared to tell them the truth about the ordeal. As far as she was concerned it was her business and no-one else's. Yuki paused before answering;

"I don't buy it Ms. Saito. I know something is wrong. Is it because of Kyo?" She bit into her lip, why did he always hit the nail right on the head?

"Why do you think Kyo would upset me?" she asked, struggling to keep composed. Just conversing about him was vexing. Yuki's voice filled her ears,

"I just have a gut feeling that is all. Ms. Saito I would appreciate it if you would confide in me about what is troubling you. I promise you I would not tell anyone, I am here to help you" She scuffed her foot across the carpet, why was she getting frustrated? Yuki was only doing what any kind, good-natured friend would do so why was she feeling the emotion of anger?

"Yuki, seriously I am fine. Don't worry" She assured him down the phone. She decided that when she felt it was right she would confess everything to him but not just yet.

"Okay, I will see you tomorrow. Have a good night and sleep well-"

"You too-" and with that the conversation ended.

Meanwhile at the store Kyo and Tohru were blissfully unaware. Tohru flit between shelves to get groceries for dinner while Kyo followed behind, not really interested. His mind was on other things. He noticed the awkward tension between both himself and Rika when he walked her home. It was as if being around him hurt her. He had noted that it was ever since he had confessed to Tohru. Now he was beginning to wonder whether or not he had actually hurt Rika. Guilt rose within, he never wanted to hurt her, he never realised that by confessing to Tohru meant she would get hurt. He never knew. While they continued shopping he reminisced about a few hours earlier, when she told him about the fact she dreamt of him and then she was going to say something else before Tohru interrupted. Just what was that? He longed to know what it would have been and he pondered if he would ask Rika about it.

"Kyo, what else should I get?" Tohru asked, showing all the items she had collected in the basket. He had no idea and merely shrugged. Tohru's large azure eyes gazed into his and she enquired;

"You feeling okay Kyo?"

"Yeah, just tired-" he lied. He did not want to say the reason for his odd mood was due to another girl. That would make things very awkward between him and Tohru and he had only just confessed his feelings towards her so he was not prepared to throw it all away. She merely smiled and gently stroked his arm. He could not help but tense up slightly at her touch, something was different. The way she touched his arm differed greatly to how Rika used to. When she used to playfully hit him or when she rested her head on his arm it felt different, it felt soothing. This made him tense and uneasy. Tohru lead the way throughout the store with Kyo following, his mind not on the job at hand but on Rika. He wondered if she was okay, if she would sleep well tonight, if she would dream of him again. A small smile scarred his lips as he somewhat hoped she would dream of him, after all he had dreamt of her.

Rika felt the water soothe her as she relaxed in the bath. It was as if it were washing away all the pain of the day's events and replacing them with nothingness. Her dark eyes flickered open, tomorrow would be odd. She wondered if Kyo would be off with her and not be his normal self around her, considering he had a girlfriend now. There were things they could and could not do.

For one, they could not spend too much time together anymore or play fight or anything of the sort and she could not dream of him anymore. It was not as if she intended to in the first place. It was sort of accident. There was one thing she could do though, she could daydream. It was so much better than reality because there she had Kyo, she was happy and everything was perfect. Just like how she always wanted it. It was a shame that right now fantasy was better than the reality that surrounded her.

"Why can't things be different?" she mused to herself as her dark eyes flickered open once more. The water caressing every inch of her body as she thought about it. She knew that there was definitely a spark there, Rika and Kyo were similar but there was some sort of chemistry, she was sure of it. Her mind now lingered to tomorrow, about what she would do if he enquired about her erratic behaviour. She would lie as she knew she would have to and maybe tomorrow she would spend time with others in her class, Kakeru for example.

Yuki paced up and down the hall, thinking of what solutions were available to him now. He needed to think of something that would take her mind off Kyo or the thing that was troubling her. Even though his idea was not the best he knew one solution. The person who annoyed him to no end but could always cheer him up if he was upset so of course he would be able to do the same with Rika. He decided to phone him while he was in the vicinity of the phone itself. Hastily he began to dial the number and waited for him to pick up;

"Hello this is the Manabe residence, please leave your heartfelt message after the annoying beep" Yuki sighed, why did Kakeru always do that?

"Kakeru it's me-" he said, placing a hand to his forehead in annoyance. Suddenly he heard his brash voice fill his ears;

"Now why does YunYun phone me? Does he need my undivided attention?"

"Not quite-" he muttered, already getting annoyed with him and he had not even been on the phone for five minutes. Kakeru paused and then asked;

"Well what then?"

"I guess I need a favour-" Yuki could not even believe what he was requesting, he already knew that Kakeru liked Rika and what his intentions were but at least he would be able to cheer her up, that would be the main issue.

"YunYun needs a favour from me? Wow, I feel like Christmas and my birthday has come at once!"

"Stop with the sarcasm Kakeru-" Yuki said in a cold manner which immediately hushed the other end of the phone. After some time he started again.

"It's about Rika-" Yuki had a distinct feeling that he would regret his decision to get Kakeru involved but nevertheless it was the only option he could think of right now. Kakeru almost beamed down the phone;

"What is wrong with her? Does she need me?"

"Don't get your hopes up; she is upset and needs cheering up. I was wondering if you could help-" There was another pause as if he was actually thinking about it. It was obvious he would help anyway; after all he did have a soft spot for Rika.

"Oh, no problem. I can do that. You want me to start tomorrow?"

"Yes, but please do not make any perverted comments. Just be nice and make her feel happier" Yuki asked, he did not need Kakeru to induce her to feel any worse than she did already.

"Do not fret Yuki, since when do I ever let you down? I'll be on my best behaviour I promise"

"You better be-" he warned. Now the thought of college tomorrow was nauseating. He could just imagine what Kakeru would be like.

"No sweat Yuki. See you tomorrow"

"See you tomorrow-" He placed the phone down and sighed. He wished that Kakeru stopped calling him pet names; it was embarrassing and very annoying. Yuki now wondered if this would help Rika, if he would be able to aid her in forgetting about Kyo and everything else. Little did he know that he had made the biggest mistake of his life...

(Oh no what will happen? Find out in the next chapter. Please review and you can also give your views about what you think will happen, and see if you're right. Thanks)